Keep getting rejected
I actually worked with Oscar Peña to show my audio quality, and he said it should have no issues being accepted, but here I am. I'm wondering why it was rejected? I've uploaded the Test Project sample here:
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Hi Andrew,
There's a lot of background hiss/noise impacting your recording. This is usually caused by recording equipment, like the recording device or mic. The volume of this hiss is also varying between takes. For example before you say "we've included you" the amount of hiss "jumps" and becomes louder. Another way of dealing with noise in between words is with the careful use of a noise gate.
I also hear another small issue, there's an editing glitch at the end of "revolution".
Hope that helps.
Hi Andrew,
Another voice guy here. My ears are older tan Sebastian's, so I'm not hearing much hiss, but like your performance.
Sebastian mentioned a noise gate and I use one in my tracks for VB. Settings are key, you don't want the track to start sounding robotic or get breaths cut off. One tip if you use a gate: set it to take the level down perhaps 10 or 12 db between sentences, not completely off. And set the threshold so that it takes the level down for the breaths, but not the voice, obviously. Even so, when editing i sometimes need to take breaths down another 8 to 10 db. Still sounds natural that way, rather than removing them entirely, which sounds weird.
Your read sounds good - keep at it,
Joe Brown
Shoot, you're right. My noise level is too high. I went back and checked, and after I normalized to -3 dB, the noise floor is around -55 dB, and I know VB requires -60 or quieter. You guys have any recommendations for a noise gate? I've got a Rode NT1-A mic and a Scarlett 2i2 interface. I use Audacity, which has a noise gate plugin. Would you recommend a hardware noise gate, or a software noise gate such as the plugin I mentioned, for someone who is rather low budget at this point?
Hi Andrew,
That's actually a common setup for a lot of Pro's (Rode+Scarlett) and normally I don't hear as much hiss on those. Make sure your gain isn't going beyond halfway.
In terms of a noise gate, you can download the one for Audacity through this link: https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Nyquist_Effect_Plug-ins
As Joe said, it's better if you don't reduce the noise to total silence as it can make reads sound robotic. So in the level reduction option make sure it doesn't go beyond -12dB. I'd test it on -8db and tweak it as necessary.
I wonder why there was so much hiss? Maybe some of my electronics or wiring are interfering with the XLR cable? I'm just using the one provided by Rode in the package. I dunno.
My gain is at about 1/3 of the dial. It's well below half way. And okay, I see if I can get the plugin to work how I want it! I'm working with Oscar to speed things up. Hopefully I'll be a Pro soon!
Hey guys. I installed Reaper on my machine, and used the built in noise gate for some new samples. Could you guys take a listen and give me some feedback? Let me know if they're good, or not? The original project actually required me to have an Australian accent, and I glossed over that. Woops. So I've uploaded both samples here. Australian, and American accents. Thoughts?
American accent: https://clyp.it/1zyry2yv
Australian accent: https://clyp.it/xrcvhvfa
Hi Ansrew,
Just listen in the car, while it is raining, so not good listening environment for detecting noise, but the performance sounds really good. Will listen on phones later.
Joe
Hi Andrew,
Sounds good! Noise is effectively gone. The American one sounds slightly more nasally (maybe mic positioning changed?), but it's no biggie.
You should be good to go...
Sweet! That's what I'm talking about! Who knew a noise gate could make such a difference! I definitely noticed a big difference as soon as I implemented it. Had my KNS6400s maxed out and couldn't really hear any issues.
And yeah, I added a bit more space between the pop filter and the mic, for the American one.
Thanks for the help guys!
Congrats Andrew!